So we all have our addictions, right? Some big, some small, some fairly benign, and others life altering. While I’ve somehow managed to avoid the big ones, I think all my fellow designers out there would back me up when I say that being a designer of any sort is basically a marathon of one small addiction after another. We’re stuck in our own personal hell (nawww… heaven, really) of one obsession after another. Colors, fonts, textures, patterns… the list goes on and on. And once we get our mind set on something there’s just no stopping us until we find the perfect thing to fill that void. This week’s obsession? Pillows. What do you do when you find the perfect set of pillows for your apartment, but don’t feel like spending $60 a piece? In my case, while browsing Lulu & Georgia I fell in love with these bohemian, denim wash pillows and had to call my sister to talk me off the ledge. Luckily, we came up with a simple DIY for a fraction of the price. First step: Amazon Prime. Second Stop: Michaels. 1) Linen Pillow Cases 2) Fabric Paint / Ink 3) Sponge Brush or Bristle Brush 4) Stencils These ended up being remarkably simple. We mixed the paint and ink, hoping we’d get a nice washed out denim look. Next, we lined up the stencils and securely taped them in place. Then using a stippling (dabbing) motion, we applied the paint! For the solid areas of paint we brushed lightly, keeping some of the underlying linen peeking through. The options and patterns are completely endless! Now I just gotta try not to make stenciling my new obsession, or things could get a little cray around here.

There’s an art to mastering the transition between winter and spring. After months of bundling up in warm layers and dark, earthy colors you’re just itching to lighten things up and let a bit of skin show… but the second you take a risk, the finicky weathers got you freezin’. A sneaky way to add a little spring to your step?? Gingham. Crisp, Neutral, Versatile, Classic. While gingham can often come off overly preppy and prim, the right styling can turn this classic staple into a quirky touch. The beauty of Gingham is that changing the size of the print can completely change the look of your outfit. A small scale print can almost look like a solid from far away, giving your outfit subtle interest. Because the small print is a bit more subtle, it can work with more outrageous silhouettes. A large print, in contrast, works well making a big impact on a simple silhouette. Pair a sleek gingham pant in a large print, with a simple, little top and you really don’t need much more for a complete outfit. In addition, gingham comes in a variety of materials and weights… So again, perfect for transitional weather. Pick a gingham printed wool skirt with a lightweight t-shirt, or a gingham button down peeking out of a layered sweater, and you’re not only prepared for whatever comes at you, but you’ve also got juuuuuuust enough pizazz.

Style is a tricky thing to define… It used to be that sometimes you would get a hunch about a coming trend, and have to search far and wide to find something close, coming upon it by chance or making it yourself… then a year later you could claim with glee that you were ahead of the curve, after you had gotten the chance to be truly unique.. truly stylish. Not so these days. Now we have Pinterest, Instagram, and fashion bloggers showing us how to make practically anything wearable under the title “street style”. It seems to me that fashion has become both democratized as well as watered down to a predictable science. You can click on a complete outfit and follow some hyperlinks to each individual piece — no thought or experimentation involved, not real style, just imitation. If you walk into any trendy store, you’ll see some variation of what Khloe Kardashian or Gigi Hadid were wearing last week and feel confident that you’re predictably on trend. And such is the case with patches. It’s one of the least aggressively flaunted trends of the season, but present nonetheless. So much so, that after spotting one of my best friends in a jean jacket that she had covered in patches she’d collected throughout the years and attached, following one of those hunches, it only took a few months for me to wander into my local Gap and find myself a perfectly adorable pair of girlfriend jeans, with strategically placed patches on both the hips and the knees. And yet… I’m not too upset about this one. The patch trend seems to somehow defy the concept of cookie cutter outfits. The idea that you can collect and personalize makes each person’s patch ensemble fresh and exciting. My gap jeans may not be totally unique, but if I add another patch of my own…. totally new. My personal style is fairly minimal and classic… a far cry from what is often on trend these days, but patches are versatile…. I can add a patch to something clean cut and Voila… I’ve made the piece quirky and unexpected. So all in all, I think the patches trend should be more than a trend. It should be a lifestyle.. and I encourage you all to get out there and tell your story.. through patches.

Sometimes, very rarely in life, you find exactly what you need, when you need it. I was lucky enough to meet a ray of sunshine in human form about two years ago. Miss Elizabeth Bennett, otherwise known as Tonic Of Wildness, was a fellow classmate of mine at UCSD during my year-long design program. The two of us shared a similar aesthetic style and cynicism towards our fellow classmates. At the time I had just moved to San Diego and had absolutely no friends. Elizabeth was my first post-college friend, and she kept me sane and happy during a period of intense stress. Since returning from Europe she has become one of my closest friends and my favorite adventure buddy. The two of us have made it our mission to go on as many adventures as possible, whether big or small. One of my favorites has been our weekend trip to Joshua Tree and Palm Springs. We set off not-so-early on a Saturday morning… me with a massive hangover, while Elizabeth, perky as a parrot, proved to me that she can rap along with every word Kanye West has ever spoken (truly a woman of many dimensions). We pulled into the Pioneertown Motel (straight out of a western movie set) and set out for some food and shopping in town. The town of Joshua Tree is one of those rare places that somehow combines high design, with a laid back/truly authentic atmosphere. Once we got our fill of vintage tees and high quality coffee, we set off on an adventure through Joshua Tree State Park. Our hike was short and sweet, with insane views for miles and miles. Blasting indie-alternative-electronic jams, we made our way back through the park as the sun was setting. On a whim, we pulled over to watch the sunset and raced back to the motel as fast as possible so we could make it in time for dinner at the adjoining bar and restaurant, Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace. While chowing down on some delicious grub, we scoped out some hotties in the local cover band, and cheered along with the crowd, as one of the bar’s bouncers, with a beard down to his waistband took the stage and killed basically every classic rock song our generation has grown up loving. After getting our flirt on with some desert hippies, Elizabeth and I turned into the night, full…

So I’m the worst blogger in the world. I went to Europe, threw up a few posts, got lazy, and now I’ve got like 20 billion pictures sitting on the photo card next to my bed, staring me in the face every night. Just for a heads up though, I’m back in the good old US of A, livin’ the Amurican dream, which mainly consists of getting a job, eating as many tacos as I can get a hold of, and then working out like crazy so that said tacos don’t impede my ability to fit my ass in those fancy ergonomic desk chairs at said job. My goal for this year is to embrace living in San Diego, and do all of the fun California things that I always talk about but have never been independent or motivated enough to actually accomplish. That being said, another one of the perks of being back in the land of milk and honey, is that I once again have people to hang out with other than my parents. The tallest and most gorgeous of these creatures that I call friends, Ms. Anna Shortley, came down from L.A. to visit me last weekend, and we seriously did it big. Oceans were seen, tacos were eaten, boys were seduced, and we even managed to check a To-Do List item off of the list. CARLSBAD FLOWER FIELDS Having missed the tulips in the Netherlands by a few weeks, and the DC Cherry Blossoms (be still my heart) by just one f*****ing week, I’ve been dying to finally make the trip up to North County San Diego to see these famous ranunculus. Anna and I jumped in the car, with an uncharacteristic lack of outfit prep and drove very slowly (because I’m a grams) up to the Carlsbad Flower Fields. When we pulled into the parking lot, the two of us actually started squealing and jumping up and down in our seats. Thats the kind of thing that thousands of flowers do to a girl.

There were hints of spring popping up everywhere in Paris last week… little white buds on the trees, green stalks emerging as a warning sign of tulips, sunshine breaking through the clouds every afternoon. With a trip to Spain on the horizon, I’m dreaming of warmer weather and bright colors. I put together this inspiration board of pictures floating around the internet that are inspiring me right now.

Fifteen years ago my family took a trip to Scotland and England. Last minute, my mother added a few quick days in Paris. As a young, impressionable girl, those three days began a lifelong obsession with all things French. While my love of art was probably inevitable, our tour of the Louvre played a huge role in my lifelong devotion to museums and I went on to major in art history and study French for 6 years. I’ve dreamed about returning to France ever since. However, winter is definitely not the time to plan a dream trip to France. I spent several days agonizing over the details of a country-wide trip, realizing that none of the tours would open up until March (right when I’m leaving) as nothing from the lavender fields to the flowers of Giverny would be blooming, and the chateaux would probably all be freezing. In the end we planned a big trip to Spain instead, and went with the old mantra of “I will always make travel a priority, and I will return”. Well, low and behold, a cheap flight on EasyJet pops up on my computer and the next thing I know, we’re easyjetting off to Paris for 3 days in the city and a day out to Versailles. I will definitely need to return at some point, to travel through the country-side and see the South of France, but for now it was the perfect short trip to get me going again. Day 1: We arrived in Paris on Monday morning, checked into our beautiful little airbnb in the Marais district, and went out for a walk. We decided that for this trip (or every trip, really) the best approach was to pick just a few sites, and then play the rest by ear. Many tourist attractions and restaurants are closed on Monday and/or Tuesday, so we decided that Monday would be our designated relaxation day. We walked around the neighborhood, which I highly recommend if you’re ever staying in Paris. It’s close to many of the main attractions (Notre Dame, Pompidou Center, Palais de la Cite and Sainte-Chapelle) and full of cafes, bars, and markets… not to mention, incredible shopping. We stopped in a local cafe called le Petit Paris, for a quick bite, and I got to try out my French for the first time. As I’ve always known, my reading is better than my speaking, and we quickly…

Christmas is a strange time to be traveling. You can be in the most magical places and still yearn for home. I was lucky to be traveling with my family (with the exception of my brother and sister-in-law who couldn’t swing a trip), staying in a nice and homey apartment for several days. While it wasn’t exactly home, it was a pretty good compromise. Verona proved to be a great place to unwind, with just enough to see, but not too much that we felt badly about spending time together in the apartment. The town is charming, clean, and easy to navigate. There are a few nice museums, a really great city center with 2 main piazzas, a roman amphitheater that still hosts operas and concerts, and a gorgeous river thats worth a stroll. Several busy roads running through town are lined with popular Italian clothing stores, making this a popular town for Italian tourists, as well as international tourists. The streets were lined with hanging lights and wreaths to celebrate the holidays, and the two main piazzas were packed with Christmas market stalls, selling hats, scarves, and souvenirs, but also seasonal treats like mulled wine, pastries and German sausage. The buildings have a story book quality to them. Having been under the domain of both the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Venetian Empire, this city has the typical, rustic charm of any Italian city, with hints of Orientalism in the pointed windows and geometric patterns, as well as Parisian flair, in the wrought iron and large boulevards. Verona may be best known for Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, and The Taming of the Shrew. While the Montague and Capulet families are fictional, Tourists can visit the House of Juliet, where the real-life Cappello family once lived. This charming home just off of Piazza Erbe (the most beautiful square in the world, as it was voted by tourists in a recent survey) features a open courtyard, with a balcony, overlooking throngs of tourists. In the center of the courtyard stands a statue of Juliet, which tourists take pictures with, while rubbing her breast for good luck in love. Obviously, my mother insisted that I go take a picture… who knows, maybe this will be the year! While riding the train up from Rome, I read the whole chapter on Verona in Rick Steves to prepare myself for what lay ahead. He…

Caserta Palace is the hidden gem of Southern Italy. The palace was constructed by the Bourbon Kings of Naples, as a safe retreat from the rebellion prone city, and an inland haven from any sea attacks. The building was constructed to rival Versailles, and to this day remains the largest royal residence in the world in terms of volume. In the midst of restoration, the palace is undergoing a complete overhaul. In the last few months the facade of the building has been uncovered, and additional rooms opened to the general public. The tour of the building begins with the grand staircase of honor: an enormous room with soaring ceilings, walls covered in colorful marble panels, and huge windows casting beams of light on to every different surface. Each room from then on takes ornate to a whole new level, and the Italian mastery of color is fused with a Bourbon sense of elegance. The sheer scale of each room is mind blowing, and the full tour takes several hours. One of my favorite little surprises was a pair of hanging birdcages, with clocks on the bottoms, given to Queen Maria Carolina by her sister, Marie Antoinette. Besides the beautiful rooms and immense hallways, the gardens are a sight to be seen. We were lucky to visit on a sunny day, and the walk through the gardens was incredibly pleasant. The gardens are a bit overgrown, but that makes it almost more mysterious and magical. You can hop in a horse drawn carriage and take a ride down to the end of the park to admire the view.

Budapest is possibly the most underrated travel destination I’ve experienced thus far. This beautiful, elegant, and lively city is steeped in rich history. Hungary is a complete melting pot of different cultures, making it a unique stop for history buffs, art/architecture lovers, foodies, winos, amateur photographers, and partiers. It’s a region that has undergone one regime change after the next, constantly shifting the country’s cultural identity. From the Magyars, to the Ottoman Turks, Austro-Hungarian Hapsburgs, Nazis and Communists… All of these different political regimes, mixes of race, hardships and triumphs have created an eclectic culture that is enticing. From what I could understand, much of Budapest was bombed during Wold War II with areas left in rubble throughout the communist era. The last twenty or so years have seen the city completely rebuilt into what is now, again one of the most vibrant cities in Europe. The city is split into several parts: Buda (The former capital of the Hungarian empire, located to the west), Obuda (Old Buda) and Pest (On the East Side). We stayed in Pest, right off of Vaci Utca, the biggest shopping street. It was a nice, central location for seeing both Buda and Pest. The Turkish influence can be seen everywhere in a distinctive color palette – reds, golds, deep greens. These warm and bright colors permeate every aspect of Hungarian culture, from the traditional Hungarian embroidery and crafts to the frescoes on the sides of the buildings. The Hapsburg influence is perhaps the most pervasive architecturally… from the glitzy Parisian style cafes, to the elegant Opera House set along the enormous Boulevard called Andrassy Street, parts of the city feel like they’ve been torn straight out of Vienna or Paris. In 1896 the Hapsburgs embarked on an ambitious building project to celebrate the 1000 year anniversary of Hungary becoming a country. Hero’s Square was built just for the occasion, with sprawling gardens, a replica of a Transylvanian Castle (Haiiiii Dracula), the famous and postcard worthy Szechenyi Baths (One of many baths built over hot springs throughout the city), and several beautiful museums. Our visit coincided with 3-4 days of freezing cold weather, that kept most people indoors until they were forced to emerge for dinner late in the evening. While this gave the city a spooky, mystical quality it made my favorite pastime, wandering and people watching, a bit difficult. On the coldest day, we took the funicular (A Cable Railway) up the hill into…